A copy of “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi sits on a desk at CCHS on May 6. One Book Athens, a recently created city-wide reading project has selected “Stamped”, a book that focuses on racial issues, as their first read. “A lot of the things that have happened this year have created this opportunity (to have an open discussion, and) lots of people want to talk about (race),” CCHS English department teacher Kaela Sweeney said. “A lot of what (the book) talks about is, first of all, giving common language so that people are on the same page with the terms that they’re going to use, (and) also (giving) very concrete ways that change can happen.” Photo by Luna Reichert
Created in 2021, the community-wide reading project One Book Athens is kicking off the year by reading “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.
One Book Athens is based on One City One Book, a movement that aims to get communities reading and discussing the same book. The movement is being organized through various organizations such as Books For Keeps, a nonprofit that provides books to low-income families, which has been supplying Athens schools with copies of the book.
“The idea is to have a community-wide read, to have people all across the community engaged in reading the same book so that we can also have community-wide conversations about the topics at the center of that book,” Books For Keeps Executive Director Leslie Hale said. “It’s not a novel concept, but it’s the first time that it’s ever been done in Athens.”
This year’s chosen read, “Stamped”, is an adapted version of “Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America” by Kendi.
“There is this adapted version for younger readers that is more accessible (and) has a terrific audiobook that goes with it that was read by Jason Reynolds, one of the co-authors. (That) made the younger readers’ version feel like the right fit for us being able to make this approachable and accessible to people from all over the community, whether you’re an adult picking up this book or you’re a high school or middle school student,” Hale said.
Several virtual community events, such as facilitated discussions about the book, are planned throughout the year.
A compiled list of community events centered around One Book Athens’ first read, “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You”, is displayed. Books For Keeps Executive Director Leslie Hale believes that even though some might struggle with the topics discussed in “Stamped”, it is still important for the Athens community to have this discussion. “(The book) not a light topic. It’s like throwing people into the deep end, but (we) very much felt like the time was now, and this was the topic that we needed to use for our first efforts at a community-wide read,” Hale said. Graphic by Luna Reichert
“(There will be) five main events around the book: one event for each section because the book is broken into five sections. There will (also) be other smaller events throughout the year,” Hale said. “There’ll be a final culminating event in July, at which we hope to have at least one of the co-authors of the book to sort of bring it all together (and) bring it all home for people.”
For Hale, bringing this movement to Athens will create a basis for social change.
“I don’t have any illusion that one conversation or reading one book is going to turn someone into an antiracist or cause someone to completely throw their entire worldview out the window, but it’s a starting point and I believe that we have to start somewhere,” Hale said. “Giving people a starting point with a book, and giving people a starting point with coming to an event or walking and having a conversation with someone who might be of a different generation and a different race than them — those are starting points.”
At CMS
At Clarke Middle School, eighth-grade students were given the opportunity to read “Stamped” on their own and participate in facilitated discussions in student book clubs starting in January.
“Kids received the book in late August, and there was a note that we included. We put this note inside of each book that was explaining why they had it and what we would be doing with the book throughout the year,” CMS English department teacher Mollie Sherman said. “Some kids started reading it independently at that time (while) other kids might not have engaged with it until we started working with it in January.”
Areas of focus in the book include better identifying racist ideas and how to combat them, which have led to important discussions among students.
“The kids who really were able to engage with the work started to see (that) school could be a place for them to feel empowered and have their voices amplified rather than feel oppressed and minimized.”
— Mollie Sherman,
CMS English department teacher
“I think that many of our kids have felt like this book was an opportunity to talk about some of the things that they don’t see happening at school or that they do see happening at school that are problematic,” Sherman said. “We’ve been able to have some vulnerable and transparent conversations about things that are ingrained in education practices and within other institutions as well. The kids who really were able to engage with the work started to see (that) school could be a place for them to feel empowered and have their voices amplified rather than feel oppressed and minimized.”
Although CMS has not officially collaborated with One Book Athens, Sherman hopes for some student participation with the organized community events.
I’ve had someone reach out (because) interested in pursuing (a collaboration). (But), we have not started making concrete plans yet (and) I’ve not sat down to work through the details of what that would look like yet,” Sherman said. “It is something that’s still in the works. (Right now though, these community events are) something that I definitely hope that our kids will take advantage of.
At CCHS
CCHS English department teacher Kaela Sweeney ordered copies of “Stamped” for her students through Books For Keeps and is having discussions with them about the content, but has chosen not to include the book in the curriculum.
“I don’t really want it to be something structured in class because I feel like the point of this is to read it on your own and think about it and have conversations in the community, so I don’t want it to be like an assignment.”
— Kaela Sweeney,
CCHS English department teacher
“We talked about a lot of the things that are in (‘Stamped’) in (my) American Literature (class), like whose voices are often left out of history or whose voices are often left out of a literature curriculum,” Sweeney said. “I don’t really want it to be something structured in class because I feel like the point of this is to read it on your own and think about it and have conversations in the community, so I don’t want it to be like an assignment.”
Sweeney feels that the inclusion of teenagers in community discussions is important for the Athens community.
“I think that young people, especially high school students, have a lot to offer when it comes to conversations about systemic issues within communities and I think that they should be a part of this conversation. It’s really cool that Athens is reading (‘Stamped’) together and talking about these things,” Sweeney said. “(The Athens community) knows all about these issues and they want to be a part of the conversation.”
Hale hopes One Book Athens will continue in the future through annual readings.
“I hope that this initiative of One Book Athens is something that we can continue to do annually. (I hope it) picks up steam and takes on an even greater life beyond this first year (so) that we can set a template for what it can look like. That it will allow us to have varied and nuanced conversations about issues that are important to our community on an annual basis,” Hale said.
